The pressure bulkhead for an aircraft is the structural component which supports the pressure of the fuselage of the aircraft at its ends. The stress that the fuselage of the aircraft is subjected to particularly when said fuselage is depressurized, in this case adding the negative pressure of the fuselage with the stress due, for example, to the load from the vertical stabilizer or in general flight loads are adding and interacting loads to the rear pressure bulkheads and its component parts. In addition, it is even more necessary with modern aircraft designs to manufacture pressure bulkheads minimizing their weight while at the same time maintaining their stiffness.
Pressure bulkheads made of metal, particularly aluminum or titanium, are known in the art, although these designs require metal stiffeners providing these bulkheads with sufficient stiffness to support fuselage stress.
In addition, pressure bulkheads made of a composite material or reinforced plastic materials, mainly carbon fiber reinforced with plastic, are known which also require stiffeners to support stress coming from a fuselage.
The US 2010/0258673 A1 discloses a cured rear pressure bulkhead comprising three layers, namely an outer and inner layer symmetrical in relation to one another, are formed by a fiber laminate, the intermediate layer or core being formed by light weight material. With such a sandwich-type shape, the resulting bulkhead is able to withstand the bending loads coming from the stress and pressurization of the fuselage without having to increase its stiffness by means of the use of some type of stiffener.
To allow the assembly of said bulkhead to the aircraft fuselage structure, the bulkhead further comprises a ring made by means of resin transfer molding, or RTM, or it is made of titanium, divided into several pieces to facilitate attaching the bulkhead to the fuselage structure. The ends of the curved pressure bulkhead are formed only by one fiber laminate, such that these ends are attached to the ring by means of rivets, in turn attaching sections of the ring to the aircraft fuselage structure by means of the corresponding rivets.
In contrast to the forgoing described prior art the DE 10 2010 018 931 A1 discloses a flat shaped pressure bulkhead for a fuselage of an aircraft according to the subject matter of the present invention.
The flat pressure bulkhead is configured for bounding a fuselage interior relative to an external environment. The flat pressure bulkhead includes a flat skin configured to span across-section of the fuselage and having a cavity disposed at the core region of the skin. The core region is radially bounded by a ring element. A plurality of radial stiffeners extend on the skin and provide a stabilization of the skin. Each radial stiffener is fixed at an end to the ring element. A reinforcement element extend over the ring element.
The connection of the flat pressure bulkhead to the fuselage is realized via a peripheral pressure frame arranged in the fuselage. The pressure frame at the same time takes on the function of a butt joint plate for purpose of connecting to fuselage sections, which are spaced apart from one another by an axial gap that is to be closed. The joining of the pressure frame to the fuselage sections is realized via mechanical connecting elements such as rivets, which are guided through an outer flange and the fuselage sections.